A man convicted of murdering a 15-year-old girl in a San Francisco park nearly 50 years ago has been sentenced to life in prison, the District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Mark Personette, 81, was convicted in 2025 of first-degree murder in the killing of Marissa Harvey, who was found strangled to death in Sutro Heights Park in 1978.

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Alise is a general assignment reporter with a focus on covering government, elections, housing, crime, courts and entertainment in San Francisco and on the Peninsula. Alise is a Bay Area native from San Carlos. She studied history at University of California, Santa Cruz and first started journalism at Skyline College’s school newspaper in San Bruno. She has interned for Bay City News and for Eesti Rahvusringhääling, or Estonian Public Broadcasting. She has covered everything from the removal of former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus to the divisive battle over the Great Highway on San Francisco’s west side. Please send her any tips.